Snowdrop: A spark of unexpected luck
by Fantasy Writer '92
Summary: Based on the 1998 film with Leonardo DiCaprio. When the retired Musketeers follow through on their plan to liberate the masked prisoner. They are surprised to find a body washed up shore next to them. Meet "Alex" a spirited late teen with excellent sword fighting skills and quite a few secrets of "his" own.
1. Chapter 1

**SNOWDROP:** A spark of unexpected luck

(A Man in the Iron Mask (1998)

Fanfiction

By

 _Fantasy Writer_

Spring 1662 – France

Listening to the sounds of the waves as they crash against the shore seems almost peaceful, doesn't it?

But rest assured that sound can be more then what it appears

and you never quite know what's going to be released from its watery depths?

For three retired Musketeers and a former masked prisoner of the Bastille. Lives were changed forever when a body washed ashore alongside their boat.

Athos was the first to notice it.

Aramis being a man of god (even though time was of the essence)  
couldn't bear to leave the poor soul without aid.

Upon examination they discovered it was not only alive but also appeared to be a young lad in his late teens. Porthos lifted the unconscious boy with ease up into his arms before the four of them took off to meet the awaiting carriage in the forest…

The boy awoke to find himself lying across the laps of some of the most famous men in all of France.

But once he got a look at the masked figure. He nearly screamed only to be shushed with a finger to his lips by Aramis and a promise that no harm would come to him.

Fortunately for everyone involved, he listened and obeyed.

As the carriage bumped along down the road to their mysterious destination. Upon arrival and everyone exited, the boy looked around no doubt trying to see the best escape route.

Just before he could bolt Athos had his hand on the lad's shoulder,

"You can't leave, we can't risk you telling what you've seen."

The boy slowly nodded after a moment, then surprising everyone he stepped out of Athos' grasp.

And walked over to the masked man, grabbing his hand. With his other one he pointed a finger to himself, saying

"Alex…"


	2. Chapter 2

In the two weeks that followed, the lad "Alex" proved his worth.

Never betraying their secret:

(The masked man had turned out to be none other than his royal highness, Prince Philippe. (the younger identical twin) of King Louis of France.)

It was in fact his brother cruelty which resulted in him residing behind the mask in the Bastille.

The Musketeers, like thousands of others saw to end Louis' reign.

But planned to do solve the problem differently than the most obvious direct approach...

They'd decided to switch the twins and put Philippe on the throne in Louis' stead to ultimately save their country.

In order for their plan to be successful though, it required a lot of time, patience and work to teach his highness everything he must know.

At first Philippe was apprehensive and unsure before he chose to follow through with to do what they asked. (It was after listening Athos' true reason for being there that convinced him.)

Alex though quiet and observant most of the time agreed to help anyway he could…

"Mon Dieu! Careful there lad, that sword is heavy." Porthos warned Alex as he removed the sword from its hilt to sharpen the blade.

"Merci for your concern Monsieur but I know what I'm doing. My Papa was a retired soldier and an excellent Blacksmith. He taught me well" the boy explained, letting his voice drift off towards the end of his sentence.

"Your…Father?" said Porthos surprised, "You – you never talk about him or _anything_ really from your past?"

Alex sighed,

"Because I'm trying to move forward. If I stop to think about it…  
I'll merely get angry and bitter. _Then_ I will be forced to seek out Aramis' council and confess my violent sinful thoughts in order to clear my conscience and have peace."

"- In that case I'd better keep an open appointment…"

"Aramis!" The two men said together, spinning around at the same time too.

The priest chuckled at the sight,

"What are you doing here? I thought you were set to teach Philippe the horseback?" asked Porthos.

Aramis shrugged, "Done for the day. Athos is with him but he wants to see Alex."

The lad re-sheathed the weapon with just as much care as before. If his highness the future King of France needed him, he'd be there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the Reviews Oliver Alexander Green,** **I'm glad you like this. Feel free to comment anytime.**

"Your Highness?" Alex addressed the young prince from his perch at top the steed he was riding.

Philippe smiled upon seeing his friend, "Alex for right now. To you I am merely Philippe. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"It is a good sign of respect your Majesty," Athos commented as he steadied the horse's bridle, waiting for him to dismount. Once on the ground Philippe faced Alex while asking if he could have a word with him in private. After helping the old musketeer to tend to the animal.

"Is something wrong your – Philippe"

"No I just wanted to make sure that you were alright?"

"What do you mean sir?"

"I could not help but hear you last night pacing back and forth restlessly." "I will be fine… eventually. It's nothing to worry about really, just an old wound of mine acting up."

The prince was skeptical, "If you're sure…?"

"Yes I am, now have you been practicing the sword moves that Athos recently taught you?"

Philippe sighed, "I've been trying but it's hard to without a partner."

Well I'm here right now and I do have some experience with the weapon in question."

He was shocked "You'd help me train?"

"I made a promise to help in _any way_ I could…"

So it was for the next hour or so that they trained together until the three musketeers broke them up saying dinner was served. As Philippe and Alex walk side by side into the house, not hearing the older men talk:

"Did you see how clean and swift Alex moved? I have not seen such a promising young fighter since D'Artagnan! I wonder if he ever consider joining the Musketeers?"

"I don't think so Porthos. Despite his skill, Alex is a young man with what appears to be a heavy heart – He isn't ready."

"Good thing too. Because if he was one of them, we would be in trouble with what we're about to do…"

It was still in the early hours of the morning before sun up and Philippe awakened to find the other bed unoccupied in the room he shared with Alex.  
Eventually finding him in the stables, preparing one of the horses.

"You're leaving?"

"More like going for a ride to get a change of scenery, I'll be back later." He said mounting the beast.

"Athos said not to leave," Philippe warned.

"Well I'm kind of known to break the rules from time to time. Besides this is for my mental health, Au Revoir"

Alex had just barely made it to the barn door when he heard: "Wait, I'll go with you just as long as we're back soon."

The young man just held out his hand and helped the prince up behind him before urging the steed on into a canter. Watching the early morning sun streak through the trees they rode past was a beautiful sight.

Stopping off at a small stream in the woods to rest and give the horse a drink before heading back. Both men sat in silence basking in the wonders of nature.

When suddenly a nearby shot from a rifle echoed throughout the area!

Calming their horse Alex looked at Philippe, "That's our signal to get out of here."

However just as the young prince was about to mount, he felt his body abruptly shoved to the forest floor as another shot rang out.

Spooking the steed into fleeing.

Philippe raised his head from the dirt, turning to the side to find Alex laying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest and blood seeping out.

"Alex!" he almost screamed,

before a "Shh!" was heard. "They – (cough) they might hear you," his companion warned despite the obvious pain.

"Alex…Alex please hold on. I'm going to get you home." Philippe desperately begged his friend, lifting him up in this arms.

Thankfully the horse didn't get far and the prince rode as fast as he could back towards the house. Meeting the Musketeers in the front.

Quickly they brought Alex inside while Aramis sought out the doctor in the local village.

Upon arrival they hid Philippe so the physician could tend to his patient without revealing anything of their plan for France.

Hours later the doctor finally emerged from the room saying he did everything he could and

" _She_ will live…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank You to all who've followed, favorited and reviewed!**

 _ **To BvS:** _

**Enjoy!**

 _ **To Guest:**_ **Sorry it took so long, I was busy with other projects.**

 ** _To Laurel:_ Your wish is my command!**

 _ **To Oliver Alexander Green:**_ **This one will manly focus on Alex' past but there'll be plenty of relationship building in the next chapters**

* * *

Both the old musketeers and young prince were shocked!

"A woman?" Porthos shook his head in disbelief.

"Our Alex is a woman… but how? He- she is so good at fighting with the sword?"

Aramis placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Porthos, my friend. Need I remind you of another young lady who was also gifted with the blade, "Joan of Arc?"

Athos merely nodded along with his friends' conversation as he paced back and forth. Wondering to himself how he missed the signs.

While Philippe just stared at the closed wooden door where his friend was lying injured in bed on the other side.

Not long after that.

One of the plow maids, Marie exited the room stating she was awake.

All four men rose to their feet at once but eventually it was decided that Aramis go in first to talk to her.

Creaking the door open, the priest walked over to the bed and pulled up a chair, waiting patiently. "Hello Aramis," she said. Still somewhat groggily as she attempted to sit up but instantly winced obviously in immense pain.

The blanket fell back to partly reveal her bandaged chest and shoulder.

The priest put a hand out stopping her from moving. "Don't, you need to save your strength to get better Alex. If that is your real name?"

The girl grimaced, not entirely from the pain this time. "You know…?

Well I cannot say I'm surprised given my injury and the physician" she said looking down as she ran her hands over the covers.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, resting one of his hands on hers.

Alex sighed,

"I would rather explain it all when everyone is together then having to repeat myself. It is not a tale that I enjoy telling"

As if right on cue the remaining musketeers and Philippe entered the room.

The young prince immediately strutted over to the other side of the bed before lightly resting a hand on her injured appendage. "Alex why? Why did you do that back there in the woods?"

A small smile appeared on her face as she told him. "It was an honor to serve my future King and besides your blood is far more precious than mine."  
"So your name really is "Alex?" asked Athos.

"Alexandra," she replied. "The few things I did let slip about my past is all true, I just did not tell you _everything_ …"

The girl sighed, before a breaking out into a coughing fit.

"Here," said Philippe as he offered her a cup of water from the pitcher on the table by the bed.

"Merci" answered Alexandra, catching her breath and swallowing.

She rested her head back on the pillow tiredly. "I suppose I should start at the beginning."

The Musketeers nodded while Philippe sat on the corner of the bed, resting his hand on hers.

: "My full name is Alexandra De'Eau, I am eighteen years old.

My parents were Gustave and Angelique De' Eau and until two years ago I lived with my father in "Domfront".

My mother had died when I was quite young and having no other children, it was just Papa and I.

It did not matter to him if I was a boy or not, he was going to teach me to defend myself. So we practiced every day before and after work. By the time I reached fifteen he had seen to it that I was a skilled fighter.

There were no secrets from each other except for one:

My father though an excellent swordsman and blacksmith was a _terrible_ business man and he fell into debt.

So much so to this one man: "Monsieur Le Cochon." An elderly snake of a man, who developed a revolting infatuation with me.

Then when it finally came time for my father to pay,the only form of payment that Le Cochon would accept was for me to warm his bed and clean his house.

Naturally my father refused, not wanting his only child to become a woman of the night.

Furious, Le Cochon declared he had three days to hand me over or else.

But my father wasn't having any of that so he ordered me to cut my hair and dress as a man. Rummaging up enough money for passage on the next available ship out of the country.

Unfortunately,

Godspeed wasn't with us and Le Cochon and his men caught up with us at the dock.

There, he insisted one more time that I go with him.

When we both refused, I watched in horror as one of his associates ran my father through with a dagger!

I remember spiting in Le Cochon's face as I was forcefully dragged away from the scene.

Deciding that I needed time and persuasion to "reconsider" his offer.

Monsieur Le Cochon had me lashed and thrown into the Bastille, where I have been until a month ago.

I was one of the lucky few that didn't catch the plague but my inmate did.

When most prisoners die, the guard will conceal the body in a bag and throw it into the sea tied down with a weight.

I saw a slight chance to escape and I took it, replacing the dead corpse with my own.

It was hard getting loose on the ocean floor but I managed.

Nearly drowning in the process as I reached the surface and well, you know the rest…"


End file.
